Read the same in the past. If I remember correctly, someone added "Ricer" and "Rice" is racism, too.

Occasionally people with backronym it as "race inspired cosmetic enhancements" so they can continue saying it with plausible deniability

That's animal cruelty

Isn't ricing when you make a car look fast when it's actually just a piece of shit? That's how I've always heard it used until linux nerds started applying it to their GUI systems.

The way I understand it, it's specifically not to gain more speed, but completely focused on aesthetics. Themes, background, and other touches to make it look pretty, and perhaps some UX aspects too.

I thought ricing was when asian street food vendors would make their small food carts all fancy looking?

The etymology is from a racist street racing term. In the street racing scene, the garishly over-done modifications (often combined with anime wraps) were popular in parts of Asia. So those styles of cars were referred to as “rice burners” when Asian drivers inevitably ended up at car meets. And modifying the car in such a way was called “ricing” it. As in, Asians eat a lot of rice, and it looks like an Asian modified that car.

That’s pretty much it. That’s the etymology. Some people will try to claim that “RICE” is actually an acronym. But that’s a common lie, to allow those people to continue using the racist term without feeling guilty. The term “rice burner” existed long before the backronym did. And somehow, the term eventually found its way into the Linux world. And Linux fanboys will screech about how it’s not a racist term, but it is.